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Car sales in the UK look set to rise over the course of 2013, despite having been forecast to fall, newstatesman.com reports.

Initial estimates suggested that total new car sales within the UK would drop by five per cent this year. In reality, figures look to have not only bucked this trend, but done so by a good margin, with actual sales volumes predicted to grow by 7.6 per cent come the end of 2013. This would equate to 2.2 million units being shifted over the twelve month period.

The figures come from Moody's Investors Service, which went on to predict further growth over 2014, albeit at the slower rate of two per cent.

If accurate, these figures present a positive outlook for the automotive industry, which has already built on the 5.3 per cent growth in 2012.

This growth is believed to have come from improving conditions in Europe, where the recent financial crisis had previously depleted both demand for new vehicles and their manufacture. In addition, Brazil, Russia and other emerging markets have added buoyancy to an industry that could otherwise have had a decidedly more lithe financial outlook.

This was especially true of the Chinese market, which has - in recent years - kept the order books for many European manufacturers ticking over at a time when they may otherwise have struggled, online.wsj.com claims.